Method and Apparatus for Providing a Shopping List Service

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus is disclosed that provides an Internet wish list for deferred purchasing. A user clicks on an add to wish list button located on locations, such as, a product page, a banner ad, or search results to add an item to the wish list. A reminder system is used to remind a user to purchase an item at a future time. The shopping list service may be integrated at a high level of integration and a low level of integration. On a low level of integration a proxy platform is used to add functionality to a website.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 13/527,386, filed on Jun. 19, 2012, which is a continuation ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/559,351, filed on Nov. 13, 2006 nowissued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,219,450, which is a continuation of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 10/093,641, filed Mar. 8, 2002 now issued asU.S. Pat. No. 7,136,829. Each of the aforementioned patent(s) andapplication(s) are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field

The invention relates generally to providing a shopping service on theInternet and, more particularly, is directed to a system for retainingshopping selections from a multitude of websites in a location fromwhich the shopping selections can be later accessed.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Throughout the history of man, there has been the desire to acquirepossessions. At the early point of man's existence, the main focus wasacquiring such necessities as food and water. As man has developed overthe eons, the constant drive to possess necessities has evolved topossessing non-necessities such as big screen TV's and cellular phones.One method for acquiring such non-necessities has been the shoppinglist. Typically a shopping list is created by a person walking through amall, finding things that they like, and physically writing them downonto a piece of paper.

As time has passed, online or Internet shopping has become increasinglypopular. Unfortunately, the development of shopping lists has not yetaccompanied the development of the Internet. Currently, while onlineshopping lists exist, they only work on a single website. This requiresa person who typically shops from many websites, to have multipleshopping lists, one from each website. Also, current Internet shoppinglists do not allow a user to add items to his shopping list from asearch result. And also, current shopping list systems must be highlyintegrated with a shopping website for the shopping list and the websiteto function together.

What is needed is a shopping list that works with many shoppingwebsites. What is needed is a shopping list that can add an item from asearch result. What is needed is a shopping list that can add an itemfrom a website that is not highly integrated with the shopping listsystem.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A method and apparatus is disclosed that provides a shopping listservice such as a wish list for deferred purchasing. The shopping listcomprises information, such as the name of the item, a brief descriptionof the item, the date the item was added to the list, and a link to aproduct page for the item.

To add an item to the shopping list, a user clicks on an add to wishlist button located on web locations such as, a product page, a bannerad, or search results. When a user views his shopping list he performssuch functions as, viewing the items on the list, removing items fromthe list, linking to a product page and purchasing the item.

A reminder system is used to remind a user to purchase an item at afuture time. The shopping list service is integrated in such ways as, ahigh level of integration and a low level of integration. Whenintegrated at a low level, a proxy platform is used to add buttons, suchas, a buy button and an add to wish list button. The proxy platform isan intermediate website with which the shopping website is viewed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A and 1B are diagrams illustrating a website product page withand without an add to wish list button according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a wish list web page according to theinvention;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a search result that contains add towish list buttons according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a recipe with an add all buttonaccording to the present invention; and

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a reminder page according to thepresent invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1A illustrates a typical shopping website page 100. The websitesells DVD players. The website page displays the name of the DVD player110, the price 120 and the quantity selected 130.

FIG. 1B illustrates the same web page with an Add to Wish List button140. Activation of the Add to Wish List button 140 adds the product tothe user's shopping/wish list.

FIG. 2 illustrates a preferred embodiment of the wish list 200. The wishlist 200 records item and web page information, more particularly,purchase information, so that a user can track the selected products.The wish list records the product name 210, URL 220, price 230,manufacturer 240, and the date 250 that the product was added to thewish list. The shopping/wish list system automatically checks the URL ona routine basis to ensure that it is still valid. A user purchases theitem by pressing the add to shopping cart button 260 on the wish listpage. A user also views items similar to the items on his wish list byselecting the See more items like those in your Wish List button 285. Auser accesses the wish list either by logging on through a login site orby automatically being logged on through an Internet service providersuch as AOL produced by America Online Inc. of Vienna, Va.

In a preferred embodiment, URL information for website items are trackedby correlating the URL for a product to the product's stock keeping unit(SKU). Each product or item has a unique SKU number. The SKU number doesnot change. However, URL's often change. As pages are changed, so arethe products' URL's. Using the SKU as an intermediate reference allows avalidation process to point to the current URL from the SKU. When thewish list system checks a website to see if a URL is valid, it reads theSKU value of the item, then reads the corresponding URL listed by thewebsite, and checks the URL value with the URL kept by the shopping listsystem. If the URL values match, then the URL is valid. If the URL's donot match, then it is not valid.

An item is added to the wish list by several other methods. One suchmethod is by pressing an Add to Wish List button located next to an itemlisted in a search result. FIG. 3 illustrates the search results for aDVD player. Beside each listed DVD player 310, 311, 312, 313, 314 is anAdd to Wish List button 320, 321, 322, 323, 324. Pressing of a button320 adds the corresponding item 310 to the wish list. Search results areobtained from multiple merchants who are part of the wish list system.Other methods of adding items to the wish list include pressing an addto wish list button located on, a banner ad, a decision guide, apromotional browser window, a personal shopper's toolbar and a productpage. Items are removed from the wish list by selecting the item andpressing the delete button 270. A user can also save search results ontohis wish list.

Promotions such as coupons are typically offered through a promotionalbrowser window that pops up when a user views his wish list. The couponstypically relate to items on the user's wish list. The coupons areoffered for a limited time.

FIG. 4 illustrates a web page 400 listing the items 410 for a recipe. Auser saves all the items 410 on the recipe by pressing the Add Allbutton 420. Add all buttons are provided where it is likely that a userwill purchase many related items at once. Examples are, but not limitedto, recipes, pieces of gym equipment, a book series and computer parts.

The user has the option to name his wish list. Typically the name ofwish lists relates to events, such as, weddings, birthdays, andanniversaries. These lists can be merged to create a single list. Also,the wish lists of multiple users can be merged together.

Once a wish list is accessed, the user has multiple options. One suchoption is clicking on a wish list item link 220 to access the item'sproduct page 100. Another such option is that he purchases the item fromthe wish list page by activating a buy button or begins the process ofpurchasing the item by pressing the Add to cart button 260.

A user shares his wish list with others by several ways. One such way isto make the wish list accessible through the user's profile. The wishlist is accessible by another person while viewing the user's profile.In a preferred embodiment, the user's profile is accessed by typing inthe user's screen name in a user search window available through thewish list service host. The user has the option to preclude others fromsearching through his wish list. Also, the user can set up a passwordstep that a potential wish list viewer must enter before he views thewish list.

Alternatively, the user shares his wish list by emailing a link to thewish list. The email provides a link to the user's profile and/or wishlist, where the email recipient then views it.

In a preferred embodiment, the buy button and/or shopping cart purchasesystem is linked to a cyber wallet. A cyber wallet typically resides ona client computer system, and performs financial transactions, such aspurchases, by communicating with a server application on a servercomputer system. For example, a user on a client computer system decidesto purchase software from a server computer system that belongs to asoftware vendor. Protocols such as the Secure Electronic Transactions(SET) protocol and the Open Trading Protocol (OTP) enable the servercomputer system to receive a payment for the software from a cyberwallet on the client computer system. Using these protocols, thispayment is automatically deducted from an account linked to the cyberwallet on the client computer system, and is automatically credited toan account linked to an application on the server computer system.

The wish list system keeps statistical data on the items saved on thewish list. The statistical data kept is, but not limited to, number ofusers creating wish lists, average number of products added per wishlist, total number of products wished for, average number of productswished for per list, the link which led to the creation of the wishlist, number of click-throughs generated by the wish list, number ofpublic lists, number of shared lists, average number of recipients pershared list, number of guest viewers of all wish lists, number ofremoved products per list, number of purged lists, top twenty mostpopular products, number of anonymous wish lists created, number ofanonymous wish lists saved, and the number of Jot-It-Down buttons. Ananonymous wish list is a wish list for a user choosing to sign into anassociated user registration process anonymously, whereby such wish listmay be kept for a temporary amount of time, such as, for example, thirtydays. A Jot-It-Down button is a button linking to a Jot-It-Down featurewithin the user's wish list. Such feature allows the user to enter adescription is and a date and a time for when to check the wish list,and, optionally create an associated link in the user's calendar forsuch date and time back to the wish list.

FIG. 5 illustrates a calendar system 500 that enables a user to setfuture reminders. A user selects a date 510 and then enters information520 that will be used to remind him at a later time. Such informationincludes, but is not limited to, anniversaries, birthdays, and when topurchase a product. A user is able to configure the calendar toautomatically purchase an item on the user's wish list on a future date.The item is automatically purchased by receiving information from theuser's cyber wallet. Price-based alerts remind the user to purchase aproduct if the product should equal or fall below a designated price.

In another embodiment, the buy and add to wish list buttons are added toa website that is not highly integrated. Typically, a high level ofintegration is required between a website and a cyber wallet providerand/or a cyber mall to add functions such as, a buy and add a wish listbutton. A proxy platform adds these buttons with a low level ofintegration. The proxy is described in the co-pending U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/017,662, Proxy Platform Integration System(filed Dec. 14, 2001) and is commonly assigned to NetscapeCommunications, Inc. of Mountain View, Calif., which application isincorporated herein in its entirety by this reference thereto.

The proxy platform acts as an intermediate website that alters theappearance of another website. A user views the website through theproxy. The proxy platform adds, removes or rearranges elements on thewebsite. The proxy platform adds functional elements such as a buttonthat interacts with the website. To the user, the integration of thewebsite and the proxy platform is seamless, such that the user believeswhat he is seeing is an unaltered website.

A buy button on the proxy platform provides automatic form filling byaccessing the user's cyber wallet and relaying purchase information to amerchant website. Each piece of information is designated properly andentered onto the merchant's purchase form. The add to wish list buttonadds items to the user's wish list.

A proxy platform is created by parsing a website, and mapping theelements of the website. Rules are created that designate how theelements of the website are to be manipulated. For example, in additionto manipulating the website by adding and removing elements, webelements can be manipulated by moving them around the page such that thelayout of the web elements are different than the original.

Although the invention is described herein with reference to thepreferred embodiment, one skilled in the art will readily appreciatethat other applications may be substituted for those set forth hereinwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.Accordingly, the invention should only be limited by the Claims includedbelow.

1. An apparatus for providing an Internet shopping list servicecomprising: a shopping list capable of containing items from at leasttwo websites, retained on a computer memory; a computer for adding andsubtracting at least one item on said shopping list; buttons for addingand subtracting said item onto, and off of, said shopping list; and aconnection for connecting said computer onto said Internet. 2-31.(canceled)